St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-09-24

I to Il your fingers. you can ga
them for five cents apiece. and ehen
come homo and Twill tell you whas
else TO do"
Then the boys began to see ahead .
little. and somehow they felt queer
and Will said. going out:
"Tom. mamma's too much for Us
this time!''
Mr.. Wood waited upon the boys with
pleasure. and thought nothing strange
when they bought the gingham-thouRh
the boys themselves hardly knew ging'
ham from calico. only. - Tom said.
.gingham turns, you know" and -
Hannah's apron was fine check. they
knew what to ask for.
But when they asked for thimbles.
and had to fit their own fingers. Mr..
Wood said: well. now. You must b
industrious boys. l must say; there
isn't boy in ten knows how to sew;
but it's good thing to know. and
your mother must be very sensible
woman to set you at it"
Dear! how their faces tingled! and
very glad were they to escape into the
street
..It'n get all over the place. Tom"
.Of course. Will. and I'd rather have
ton talkings from mamma. and some
Of papa's whippings than that"
'.Now. boys" said Mrs Lathbury.
upon their return, II hope you have
made . good purchase. Yes. indeed.
she said, rs she unrolled the parcel.
'you have done nicely. Now. l will
furnish you with the needles and
thread. As fear you have not much
left over. and give you your first lesson
In sewing"
Not . word more-nothing like 81
am grieved to learn my boys have done
an unkindness"-oh. no. nothing like
that; in fact no ''talk" OF any kind.
but just two yards and half OF ging-
ham to each boy. . needle. thread.
the fitting Of thimbles. and Ill was
ready.
At first it required some patience to
teach the boys how to handle their
work properly. and how 20 pull the
needle through without getting it un-
threaded, but Mrs. Lathbury perse-
vered, and finally the boys were left to
themselves. and their mother resumed
her reading.
| For time the novelty Of it pleased
Will, who always saw the ''fun."
in any thing At once. and he said to
Tom:
Mammals put the check on us this
time"
But Tom did not feel like punning.
and he answered. grufly:
keep still. Will; feel as clumsy a.
bear with . needle"
mo quarreling. boys. or you will
have to take out all you have done"
That was the only stern thing their
mother said.
Oh. what . lesson In patience was
that for boys. and how tiresone il grew
after little!
So hard to keep from quarreling
when the thread 'kinked up" and %
many other things happened.
At last Mira Lathbury said: ''You
may put up your work now. boys; it is
nearly time for supper, and after sup
per. as you have your lessons 70 get
there will be no time for sewing. but
tomorrow when you come from school
You may take it up again, and 30 on
every day until the aprons are finished"
"Well. my dears." said papa at the
supper table. 81 presume you have been
good boys to-day, - usual"
Win looked at Tom. Tom looked at
VIII. and both looked at mamma
Mamma said nothing. and Ar. LAth-
bury went ON:
by the way. Jeannette. you wished
to see me to-day; what was il about
my dearr
Then mamma had not told. altar al.
Wasn't she lovelyF"
.'Oh. never mind. Richard; at the
time I needed your help very much.
but afterward found could do with
out it."
Then WIN winked at Tom - much
- to say she had. but papa caught the
wink. and then It all had to come out.
Thomas! Williaml I an ashamed
Of you! however. shall let your mother
follow mp her treatment this time, but
Il necessary she may call on me- to in-
ish It."
The rest Of the meal was passed in
silence. But when they were all going
up stairs again the boys heard papa
say: ''JeanDette. you arc wonderful
little woman"
"Oh. Richardi l did the best I could
without you" and that was al that
mamma said. but the boys wondered
why she looked % happy after that
when they tnew they had done nothing
to make her glad.
| Il would take too long to tell what
happened every afternoon while tie
boys worked on their aprons. for -
the days were short, and it SO soon
grew dark. they were working 1t then
long. long time.
Hannah forgave them before the
third day. but Aza Lathbury remained
: firm.
They Lost ''lots Of fun" were ''mor-
tilted to death" when the different boys
and girls came in to ask them out to
play. and found them sewing on
| ss0imOham anr0na." hut thAv 0ld 4